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Spiced Chickpea Burger and Chips
As seen on TV
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Who made this dish?
Spiced Chickpea Burger with Triple-Cooked Chips, Mint and Chili Yogurt and Tarragon Mayonnaise
Narrator: "Actor and lifelong vegetarian Nitin Ganatra has made it this far, showcasing impressive basic skills and an intuitive flair with spice. He's tasked with recreating Tom's chickpea burger with triple-cooked chips and two side dips."
Nitin: "A chickpea and coriander veggie burger. Triple-cooked chips."
Nitin: "This is a real exercise in precision for me, because I'm not very precise."
Nitin: "I haven't made burgers very often, but it's a fun thing to eat."
Nitin: "The recipe is good. I like that. I'm going to learn something new. I'm going to learn a new flavor. But whether it looks or tastes like it's supposed to is another question."
Nitin: "I'm now making my burger mix, and I'm going to make two burgers out of this. Add cumin seeds. These are my comfort zone spices."
Nitin: "Oh, I love chickpeas. I do make a good chickpea curry as well. Whenever I've tried burgers, I've struggled with keeping them together. So that's my biggest problem, I think."
Nitin: "I just want them to be really soft on the inside and really crispy on the outside."
Nitin: "Thank you very much. Okay, let's mix."
Nitin: "I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like when it's ready, but..."
Nitin: "Okay, let's go with the chips, see what happens."
Nitin: "I don't think they're cooked enough."
Nitin: "Oh, they're looking good."
Nitin: "Tarragon mayonnaise: whisk egg yolk and Dijon mustard. Try it. Done something wrong?"
Nitin: "Oh, they're looking good. Give it a minute. Let's put the burgers on. Going to cook these slowly. Go and check on my chips."
Nitin: "I know I look stressed. I have a habit of looking stressed."
Nitin: "I don't want to burn my buns."
Nitin: "Oh, this is so much fun."
Nitin: "Where does the tarragon mayonnaise go? I'm just gonna have to serve it on the side."
Nitin: "I'm finished."
Narrator: "Nitin has made Tom's spiced chickpea burger and triple-cooked chips, served with a mint and chili yogurt and a tarragon mayonnaise."
Nitin: "I'm finding it very stressful, but, you know, I'm learning a lot. So, yeah, I'd like to stick around a bit."
Nitin: "I'm really shocked that it stayed together."
Donna: "Your burger was banging."
During the cook:
Tom Kerridge: "A burger is something that sits on menus up and down the country, and it's something that we all do at home and it's something that everybody loves. And then doing a vegetarian style one with chickpeas. Those chickpeas don't taste of much. They're a vehicle for flavor, so you add loads of different layers into them."
Grace Dent: "How do you feel about the recipe in general?"
Tom Kerridge: "You don't want it to fall apart in the pan when you're cooking."
Grace Dent: "Triple-cooked chips. Now, three of the sexiest words in the English language as far as I'm concerned. What are you going to be looking out for here?"
Tom Kerridge: "Absolutely. You're right when you talk about it being nice and fluffy in the middle and that crisp outside. That's what I'll be looking for today."
Giorgio Locatelli: "With Nitin, I'm really not at all worried about the spice and the flavor. What I'm worried about is the consistency of the burger."
Tom Kerridge: "Well, this is one of those things that, if it goes in the pan without being set enough and having enough time to rest, it'll fall apart in the pan and we'll just end up with kind of a chickpea mess."
Tom Kerridge: "We are beginning to run out of time here to get the three cooking processes of those chips right: the par-blanching or boiling of them in the first place, then the first fry, then the second fry. In this time scale, I mean, it's a lot to get done."
Verdict:
Grace Dent: "Nitin, I've eaten hundreds of veggie burgers in my time, and I think that this is a very good one. The concern would be a vegetarian patty that began to fall apart, and it absolutely has not."
Tom Kerridge: "What I like about this is you can get the layers of spice, the flavors, the subtlety of everything coming through, and that's been absolutely nailed in that burger. I think you've done very well. Well done."
Giorgio Locatelli: "Those chips are really fantastic. And, you know, they are a process that you executed perfectly."
Tom Kerridge to all four cooks:
Tom Kerridge: "Today I've been so impressed by the food that has come up. You've done a real wonderful representation of those lovely dishes that are super close to my heart. All four of you should feel really proud of the work that you've done today."
Deliberation:
Giorgio Locatelli: "I think Nitin is great. Great improvement."
Grace Dent: "I think the chickpea burger is beautifully seasoned."
Giorgio Locatelli: "And these triple-cooked chips, they're not an easy task, and he pulled it off very well."
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